Articles | Volume 11, issue 8
https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-11-2987-2026
https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-11-2987-2026
Research article
 | 
14 Aug 2026
Research article |  | 14 Aug 2026

Controlling rigid-wing airborne wind energy systems during circular flight without exact path following

Duc H. Nguyen, Agustí Porta Ko, Tallak Tveide, Mark H. Lowenberg, and Espen Oland

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Cited articles

Ahrens, U., Diehl, M., and Schmehl, R.: Airborne Wind Energy, 1st, Green Energy and Technology, Springer Berlin, Heidelberg, Germany, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-39965-7, 2013. 
Basile, L., Berni, M. G., and Celani, A.: Harvesting energy from turbulent winds with reinforcement learning, Europhys. Lett., 152, 43001, https://doi.org/10.1209/0295-5075/ae1ce9, 2025. 
Berra, A. and Fagiano, L.: An optimal reeling control strategy for pumping airborne wind energy systems without wind speed feedback, 2021 European Control Conference (ECC), Online, 29 June–2 July, https://doi.org/10.23919/ECC54610.2021.9655018, 2021. 
Cherubini, A., Papini, A., Vertechy, R., and Fontana, M.: Airborne Wind Energy Systems: A review of the technologies, Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 51, 1461–1476, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2015.07.053, 2015. 
Cobb, M. K., Barton, K., Fathy, H., and Vermillion, C.: Iterative Learning-Based Path Optimization for Repetitive Path Planning, With Application to 3-D Crosswind Flight of Airborne Wind Energy Systems, IEEE T. Contr. Syst. T., 28, 1447–1459, https://doi.org/10.1109/TCST.2019.2912345, 2020. 
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Short summary
A new flight control architecture for airborne wind energy systems is proposed for circular-pattern flight during the power production phase. The controller 'wraps' around a reference cylinder and thereby does not require exact path planning or waypoint-based navigation. This simple guidance method enables the controller to function with only proportional-integral regulators. Further extensions to the controller enable flying with near-constant angle of attack and multi-kite synchronisation.
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